Much of the RF-ID focus within the airline industry has been to create a, low cost, passive RF tag system to replace existing Barcodes. These tags are placed on bags upon check-in and would provide enhanced rapid sorting as well as improved identity of the bags. These tags would be used once and have a pre-assigned fixed ID.
Some disadvantages of this prior art passive tag approach are
Attaching a fragile chip through existing print and apply methods along with the rough handling typical within airports. Many of the problems found to date during pilot tests of such tags has involved damage and breakage of the tag during baggage transfer on conveyors.
Major new IT (Information Technology) cost to track and identify the new fixed unique ID of the tags for each use. This also leads to costly new security issues and expensive access issues to any information contained within the remotely stored database.
No ability to provide detailed bag pedigree (e.g. owner ID and/or history of bag). Moreover, only limited data can be captured and stored on the prior art tags.
Since passive tags must be low cost and disposable, they also must be UHF (ultra high frequency) and as a result can only be read with expensive proximity readers that do not work well around nearby materials such as steel or liquids and thus cannot be networked effectively. Thus, such high frequency tags cannot provide real time inventory in plane or in airport storage areas, which typically have a great deal of such high-radio-frequency-interfering materials.
For example if a TSA (Transportation Security Administration) search of the bag is necessary, the TSA employee will require an expensive handheld reader, that can rapidly access the database to obtain any information about the owner of the bag. A typical reader that would provide this information would currently cost about $5,000.00/unit. In addition, any record that the bag has been searched would also have to be entered, at considerable cost, into this database. The bag information—a fragmented pedigree, must then be stored in a remote server, and would be accessible only through expensive access systems.
Additionally, once the bag is placed into the belly (the on-board storage, or “hold”) of the plane, the bag still must be removed and read in time to identify the owner. For example if, for any reason, a passenger, who has checked bags on a plane, does not actually board, the procedure for removal of bags in order to check individual bags still is largely a time-consuming and expensive manual process. Moreover, if a bag is misrouted or misplaced, identifying or locating these lost bags is again a largely manual process.
The sorting problem and bar code replacement solution using passive RF ID tags is largely based on antiquated systems approaches that in some cases may, in themselves, actually reduce security (e.g. because of confusion during sorting and location of misplaced bags) and make it difficult to provide a full interactive real-time pedigree.